By the end of the gardening season for 2017 and assisting with the Green Thumb Gardening Course offered at the Anchorage Community House, I was feeling a little like Mary Poppins!
From April through September there have been 12 classes covering garden design, landscape, planting seeds, transplants, compost, soil, sheet mulch beds, problem-solving, garden field trips, harvesting, preserving, canning, fermenting, seed saving, and putting the garden to bed.(Whew, I'm ready for bed!)
In my bag last week I brought two types of ornamental kale for decor, an ornamental kale salad, no-bake coconut peanut butter scoops, and my "house cookies, "Stuga Chocolate Crinkles...and a little Tazo tea.
This gardening class has been a life-line for me this summer, and my personal gardening at home has been a "self-care" activity. Not only did I build community through assisting Alivia (of Adrift Gardens) in teaching, we gathered at Anchorage Community House and I met 8 amazing individuals who were at all different points in their gardening journeys. Yes, we talked about seeds, plants, dirt vs. soil, etc. We also talked about diagnoses, pregnancy, childcare, neighborhoods, and travel in Alaska. We were able to share growing tips, and life tips; we listened and shared life together.
During our final class of the season we gathered for a harvest potluck, a time of sharing about our gardens at home, and filling out course evaluations. In my last Mary Poppins bag of the season I brought homemade sourdough bread, Fireweed jelly, our backyard raw honey, cranberry sauce, plain sauerkraut, caraway sauerkraut, and garlic rosemary 'kraut, smoked salmon, and sauteed zucchini with mushrooms and garlic. Oh, and a mini bouquet of poppies and calendula!
